This. It's science fiction... science fantasy... whatever label you want, there is a creative solution as to why the "Doctor" has aged even though he "regenerated." I thought it was brilliant hand waving in Time Crash. It doesn't matter that they've aged--of COURSE they've aged, they are REAL people. I want to see them performing together. I just don't get the overwhelming need for veracity in a show like this. It's about a guy who travels in a box through space and time. Some things you just accept. And why not accept a slightly older 6th Doctor? BUT--I do wonder if that's the direction they are going to go. Do you make a love letter to the fans of the series as a WHOLE, or make it more about the show as it is now?
Considering the likelihood of Eccelston participating is about Zero, that means only Tennant for past Doctors of NuWho. If it's well written and balanced, there's certainly room for more than just Tennant and Smith, so, I don't really see any downside on the "Love Letter to the Current Series only Viewers". Matter of fact, if they were to add in Davison and/or McCoy or anyone else, the "NuWho Only" viewers may take a liking to them, and want to explore their classic era, which could mean more DVD or Audio sales
I'm just gonna say this...of all of them, it's McGann I want to see again the most. He only had the one shot on screen, and, of them all, he should have the opportunity to be seen as the Doctor onscreen again on the BBC in the actual proper BBC Doctor Who, not just the collaborative TV movie. Let him get his proper chance to shine again. There's really not a Doctor I complete dislike. Some I like more than others, obviously - that's true of most if not all of us..but there is one actor for whom I feel kinda sorry, and it's him. I hope that gets remedied.
Yes, especially considering Sylvester McCoy's Torch Passing scenes ate up quite a bit of screen time (Not that I'm complaining at all, I like McCoy more than many do, especially after his first Series), plus Regeneration Stories don't really give you a feeling for a new Doctor, since they spend so much of the Story disoriented.
I think the magic of seeing all the surviving Doctors onscreen at once ought to allow most people to stop thinking about how old the 4 - 6 now look. And I for one would be very anxious for McGann to be included. And even if they don't do a multi-Doctor story, I've long thought that having a flashback to his time in the TARDIS is the obvious way to do a 'Doctor-lite' episode in any given series.
The Sixth Doctor thing was solely a personal preference of mine. But, you're absolutely correct. It really shouldn't matter in the slightest. I'd be happy to see any of them on the screen again regardless of how old they are.
I hope you don't feel I was singling you out, that wasn't my intent. The Sixth Doctor is one of my favorites and also, sadly, one of the more disliked, and Colin has probably changed the most, so I just picked him.
I didn't feel terribly singled out. In fairness, Six is not one of my personal favorites. I found his blatant egotism a bit off-putting. But I don't blame Colin Baker himself for for how his character was written. That fact that he has really changed the most is basically why I mentioned him by name.
I'd love to see McGann again too, but to be honest I think that would be more fitting for a regular season episode. For the 50th Anniversary, I think I'd rather see them highlight Doctors who had a bigger and more longer-lasting impact on the series. Plus, with only one story to his name (that most people have really heard of), there just isn't much to work with as far as the Eighth Doctor's character goes.
also, i'd love to see Tennant return... but not as The Doctor... Nah... I want to see Tennant return as the meta-crisis Doctor... coming back from the parallel world after Rose's death to reclaim his regenerations and his life, back from The Doctor... Now calling himself The Valeyard after Rose's death, The Doctor must battle him for their remaining regenerations, as The Valeyard is the one person now who could undo everything The Doctor has done... the one person The Doctor can't lie to, and the one person who knows all of The Doctor's secrets... To me, that would be an amazing arc... seeing Tennant come back as the villain would cause so many fangirl heads to explode it would be amazing... and would be a fantastic tie-in to the classic episodes to actually give an explanation for the Valeyard's 'birth'. M
This is essentially how I feel, which is why I'm against recasting the former Doctors. Yes, Hurndall did better than I expected in The Five Doctors, but I think it better they not bother recasting the first three Doctors and only stick with the actual actors for the rest. IDW already used the idea of meta-crisis Doctor becoming the Valeyard. Well, sort of. For further info, see The Forgotten.
I disagree, because he was on a Regeneration story, that didn't allow him to have his unique personality, the Audios can be drawn upon by Paul McGann to "instantly"put The Doctor's character into the appearance, IMHO, OC
I loved Journeys end. One of Tennants best. I don't understand how anyone can dislike journeys end, but like amys choice. Yeah, out of all of them, I'd choose McGann to return seeing he had less than one episode on the air, and he's one of my favourates. As much as I'd like to see Tennant return as the doctor, I also LOVE that idea! Plus it would explain alot. I'd love to see the Valeyards birth. I'd love to see Tennant regenerate into Smith then someone who looks like the valeyard from the trial of a timelord. It would explain alot, plus out of all the clasic series villians I'd like to see return, the valeyard's at the top of my list. And it would be a very different story from any others.
lol. 6's blatant egotism is one of the reason I liked him. Marching into the middle of the conflict, head high... AND he was the smartest man in the room 99% of the time. I just wish his stories were better written. Oy.
While there's been a lot of talk about bringing back old actors, what about bringing back some of the old writers like Terrance Dicks, Christopher H. Bidmead, Eric Saward, & Andrew Cartmel. No, no, the meta-crisis Doctor grew old, had a granddaughter, built his own TARDIS, and starred in the Peter Cushing movies. (Bernard Cribbins' character is actually one of Wilf's descendants in the parallel universe.) That would probably be super-obnoxious. To them, it would be combining the best elements of David Tennant with Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's a way of culling the excess fan population. No question you make it a love letter to fans of the series as a whole, since we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of the premiere of the original show in 1963. If you want to just center on the new series, you'd only have to wait a couple more years for the 10th anniversary of the premiere of the Christopher Eccleston series in 2005. Personally, I think more should be done to educate the new fans on the show's rich history. Whenever I see any of these new retrospective specials on BBC America, I get frustrated that they mostly seem to be pedantic rehashes of the plots of episodes that most fans already know. Now, I suppose the real purpose of these specials is to educate the super-new fans who've never seen anything before. But still, I think specials like that would be a good way of giving new-series fans a good overview of the classic series; particularly for the new fans who don't have the patience to sit through the glacial pacing of most of the classic series.
It was the new series that got me into Classic Who. I think the low production values and the way the show is shot turns off a lot of people looking into the Classic series. It's never been a problem for me though, I think the stories are so rich and full of wonderful moments that it overshadows the look of the show.
This has bugged me about those specials as well and all the gushing about the new series and Matt Smith in general in those makes me wonder how those same commentators would react to seeing how the past Doctors reacted in similar conditions.